An old cliché is “to a carpenter, every problem looks like a nail.” I sometimes think something similar works for Project Managers. To a project manager, every job seems like a project. You know you’re a project manager if:
Yet I’m always surprised when a production doesn’t run smoothly during the rehearsal and build phases. Where is the project manager (producer)? Why isn’t the set built, the costumes ready, the prop list complete? Why don’t the actors know their lines? (OK, I’ve been guilty of the last one – learning my lines later than I like. That doesn’t make it right.)
As in the business PM world, the reason things don’t happen on schedule in a stage production is…you guessed, communication breakdowns. Volunteers didn’t know they were needed, the vision wasn’t clear, the requirements weren’t defined. In the last show I was in, the script called for a full moon in the last scene. Come technicals, we went out for that scene to see the lights for the first time, and there was a beautiful gobo of a crescent moon. Unfortunately, the lines were, “Have you seen the full moon? Somehow everything seems full tonight.” So at the last minute, the lighting designer had to come up with a new lighting effect for a full moon. No one’s fault, but the requirement for a full moon wasn’t clearly articulated to everyone on the team.
So where do you manage projects? For me, it’s at the theater, at home, in the community – oh, yes, and at work. It’s all the same process, and the same skills, especially soft skills, are needed no matter what the venue.
- You’ve ever planned a vacation with Microsoft Project.
- You talk about your to-do list as a set of deliverables.
- Nothing is ever late; it’s rebaselined.
Yet I’m always surprised when a production doesn’t run smoothly during the rehearsal and build phases. Where is the project manager (producer)? Why isn’t the set built, the costumes ready, the prop list complete? Why don’t the actors know their lines? (OK, I’ve been guilty of the last one – learning my lines later than I like. That doesn’t make it right.)
As in the business PM world, the reason things don’t happen on schedule in a stage production is…you guessed, communication breakdowns. Volunteers didn’t know they were needed, the vision wasn’t clear, the requirements weren’t defined. In the last show I was in, the script called for a full moon in the last scene. Come technicals, we went out for that scene to see the lights for the first time, and there was a beautiful gobo of a crescent moon. Unfortunately, the lines were, “Have you seen the full moon? Somehow everything seems full tonight.” So at the last minute, the lighting designer had to come up with a new lighting effect for a full moon. No one’s fault, but the requirement for a full moon wasn’t clearly articulated to everyone on the team.
So where do you manage projects? For me, it’s at the theater, at home, in the community – oh, yes, and at work. It’s all the same process, and the same skills, especially soft skills, are needed no matter what the venue.
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